













Class 

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COMELIUS 


OF CALIFORNIA, 




THE SLAVES. 


DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES, 

PEBBUARY 18, 1864. 



WASHINGTON, D. C.: 

MCGILL & WITHEROW, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS. 

1864. 


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The Speaker stated that. the 'next hxjsi ness in order was the coil- 
Blderation of House hill No. 51* to establish a Bureau of Freedmen’s 
Affairs, reported from the select eommlttee' on the subject, ori/which 
the geatletnan from California [Mr, Golk] was entitled to’the floor. *■’ 

. ; -I >t ‘ i ' V ^ / r ) 


Mr, COLE arose and spoke, as follows: r ^ u i 

Mr. Speaker, since obtaining the floor last evening,' I h&ve found a 
little time to ooedense such views of this bill as I wish to present to 
the House, and the few notes I have prepared wiU contribute sensibly 
to thatdesirablc en'd. The time of this body while the war lasts; ^ I 
say it with all deference, is too precious to be taken up with vain ut- 
terances, and I acknowledge to a very considerable degree of diffidence, 
lest betrayed I should be into the iise of unnecessary words. ’ 

It is clear now that the learned gentleinan from Ohio [Mr. CoxJ 
who last addressed the House on this question, and who has written 
a book, has not always entertained the opinions in reference to the 
negro that are generally accorded to him. The elegahtly*written ex- 
tracts that were read by the distiuguisherl geRtlcnian from Illinois 
[Mr. Washburne] from The Buckeye Abroad, show that when its 
author was in Rome he did as the Romans did,"* and I entertain a 

i » I I • ^ Mi 


* Mr. Co'Xy in his book of trarelf? in Eu'rojAC, describing:' St. Peter's, sars : Is the tne^intimc 

seraphic music from the Pope’s select choir ravishes the-ear ^v^^lilelhe iucenso titiiates the nos»,\ 
Soon Ibore arises in the chainber of theatrical glitter, a jtlain tinquestioned African, and he utters 
the sermon in facile Lathiily, with graceful manner, lllrt dark htsind.s gestured harm>'htonsly 
With the rotund periods, and his swart vi.sage beamed with a high order of intelligence. He was 
an Abyssinian. %Vhatn coTtimc'ntarV’ was here nj.ion our American prcjudiccs‘1 The head of the 
'.4»reat 'Catholic church suri^Aimded by Uie ripest BchoSarg of the age, listening to the eloquence of 
the despised negro ; and Uicrtby illustrating to the world the common bond of brotherhood which 
binds tlie human race. 

I coiifcss that, nt first, it seemed to me a sort of theatrical mummery, not being familiar with 
such admixtures of society. But, on reflection, I di.scerned in it the s.ame influence which, during 
the dark ages, cenferred such inestimable blessings on mankind. History recOrd.s that from tho 
time of the revival of lellen? the influence of the church of Rome had boen ganerally favorable to 
science, to civilization, and to good government. Why? Bectiuse her .system held then, as It 
holds how. all distinctions of caste as odiouis. She regards no man, bvad or free, white or black, 
as disqualifVed for the pries'. hood>’' ' 


4 


lively hope that when he becomes fully convinced ' that It Is the 
fixed purposes of the nation to put down this insurrection by force, 
and in no other w^ay, he will again pay respect to the injunction, 
when in Rome do as the Romans do/^ and heartily co-operate with 
this side of the House, lending his powerful influence towards bring- 
ing about a peace in the only proper way. In fact I thought I dis- 
covered in some of his expressions last evening the outcroppings of 
genuine abolitionism. I should feel a little more certain on this point 
were it not that another and rather antagonistic idea seem to predomi- 
nate throughout the gcmtlehian’s speech. ^ He appears to be troubled 
with a sort of hallucination that the project to establish a Bureau of 
Freedman’s Affairs is one grand scheme for the amalgamation of the 
white and the black races, nothing less, nothing more. 

I have in vain tried to discover how the providing means of subsist- 
ence for the freedmen, and all the comforts that flow from paid industry, 
can have a tendency to promote amalgamation. And, notwithstanding 
the gentleman’s most virtuous indignation against the bill, springing 
out of this idea,* I am equally at a loss to ‘know how persons who are 
exercising their own’ volition, and have perfect freedom of action, are 
any worse off in regard to this matter, than those whose purposes are 
subordinated by law to the desires of others. 

♦ I .1 

If the honorable gentleman will consult the census reports he wdll 
find that the number of mulattoes'in the single State of Virginia was 
some ten thousand more than in all the free States put together; and if 
his statement, made yesterday, be correct, that mulattoes do not propa- 
gate, it leaves a very strong presumption that amalgamation had some- 
thing to do with this result. ' . 

I 

The gentlernan entertains strong feelings of distaste toward this side 
of the House, because, as he soinehov infers, we are theoretically in 
favor of amalgamation; and I will not quarrel with that feeling so 
honestly entertained by him ; for I remember that de gmtihus non dis- 
putandumj and this business of amalgamating is purely a matter of 
taste. But how' happens it that the very learned and astute gentleman 
from Ohio never conceived any disgust toward his quondam friends 
down South, rwho, as the census shows, w^ere so very much addicted to 
the practice of amalgamating with their black slaves ? 

I will now turn from the honorable gentleman from Ohio to the proper 
consideration of the bill ; not a more agreeable subject, to besurej but 
more profitable, I hope, and I leave its humanitarian, its eleemosynary 
points for the consideration of gentlemen bn the other side of the 
House, whose new-born affection for the black man renders it entirely 
safe to do so. I propose only to give attention td its hearing upon the 

f • 1 ^ ' • 

war. ... 

i i 

Power is virtue in a belligerent. A nation at war ought to strengthen 
itself in every possible way, or give up the strife. It is 'worse than 
folly, it is criminal, to protract a deadly conflict unnecessarily. 


5 

» f • • 

* ! *■ 

This bill to establish a Bureau of Freedmen^s Affairs proposes, in 
effect, to shorten the war. The means of doing it are within our reach, 
the duty is before us, and we are called upon to act. , 

The reasons for employing colored men in the military service of the 
Government, and especially such colored men as are or have been in 
slavery, are to my mind overwhelming, and I feel constrained to urge 
extraordinary measures, if necessar}^, to obtain such service. The bill 
under consideration must have a powerful tendency to promote this 
object, and ought therefore to find the favor of loyal men. I choose 
to consider it from this point of view, because the exigencies of an 
active, long-continued, and still vigorous rebellion are upon us. In 
peace times I should consider it in altogether a different light. . 

r 

. I ^ 

The bill provides for the taking in charge by the War Department 
of the freed people of the country, to the end that said freedmen 
and the Government of the United States shall be, mutually protected, 
and their .respective rights and interests duly determined and main- 
tained.’^ This I understand to mean that when these people, like any 
other people, are needed by the Government,. so many of them as are’ 
fit to bear arms may be thus employed. At all events, there is noth- 
ing in the bill to prevent such employment of them, and there appears 
to be great propriety in giving their supervision to the Wgr Depart- 
ment, at least ^during the war, rather than to the Depar,tment of the 
Interior, or even to the proposed ne,w Department pf Industry, because 
they can then with greater facility be called into the military service 
ofj the Government whenever, an emergency may req^^ire it. 

I do not favor this feature of the measure, because of any in- 
ability on the part of o ir white soldiers to maintain themselves. They 
have done this to the full extent of every reasonable expectation. 
They have driven in the rebellion on every hand, and routed the min- 
ions of treason from many a stronghold. Every fair contest in this 
war has shown that 

• -t ? ■ 

“ Tliric3 is he armed that hath his quarrel just ; 

Aud he but naked, though locked up in steel, 

Whose conscience with Injustice is corrupted.” 

Viewed as a question of expediency, the argument ip favor of a 
colored soldiery is none the less. If the Bepublic possessed ten times 
the astounding strength it has already displayed, and if the usurpation^ 
at Richmond were much weaker than it has ever appeared to be, still 
should we employ this agency in sustaining the former and crushing 
the latter. As Republicans we 'should favor it, as Democrats should 
we favor it, and as Abolitionists especially should we favor it. It is a 
matter that appeals directly to our philanthropy. It involves the in- 
terests not of this country alone, but of all countries ; not of the living 


6 . 


iiicrely, Lnt of all generations. It will most surely uproot and destroy 
slavery from the face of the earth. The 'example will not be lost upon 
. the only ‘American monarchy, slaveholding Brazil, nor’ upon the few 
Spanish American colonies that still foster the barbarous practice of 
chattelizing humanity. Carry into, practice the provisions of this bill, 
and' the New World, at least, will be free' again as when first created^ 
and all men be permitted to pursue their own happiness here unmo- 
lested by tyrants. ’ ’ ^ 

It would be unfair to leave this childlike people uncared for while 
the stalwart among them arc fighting the battles of liberty for us as 
well as themselves; and equally so to turn them off upon the cold char- 
ities of a dominant race after the battles are over. Under the procla- 
mation of the President they became the wards of the llepublic, and 
we cannot,' with any show of justice, disclaim the guardianship. Dispel 
the clouds and darkness that villanous local laws have imposed upon 
their minds, and they tvuH no longer need our care. 

• . I ’ r ' f . ^ ri I 

It will’ not be possible, in the short time allotted, to revert to all the 
arguments in favor of this bill, but 'some of the reasons for it are so 
patent as to force themselves upon'attention. While the scheme will 
much alleviate the new condition'' of self-reliance of these people, it 
will impose'ho new burdens upon the Government; on' the contrary, it 
promise's to yield' a handsome revenue to the public treasury. At the 
same timefand above all, itVill so strengthen the national arm as to 
speedily crush' out the rebellion. To* this war view of the subject 
alone, then, dp I approach, for these are wartimes.^ ' ’’ 

Contrary to the 'general opinion 'entertidned two years ago, or less, 
the American descendants of the African make excellent soldiers. This 
has been demonstrated on numerous battle-fields,, and in some of the 
most despefateGiahd-to-hand conflicts of this war... The testimony of 
officers over them is full and singularly uniform on' this point. Only 
the'otlier day, ih’the Chronicle of this city, was the following: 

' t> I ' ‘1! ' "v; 

“General M. M. Crocker, Iowa, one of the very best officers of the 
Army, who early entered the public service, and was an unswerving and lead- 
ing Democrat in that State for many years, writes from Vicksburg, where lie 
is now stationed, to a friend in Des Moines, under date of January 12, 1864, 
as follow's : ‘ The negro 'regiments now form' q'niie an element in this army, 
and it is astonishing' how completely all prejudice on that subject has been 
done away wit^ They make good soldiers — mild, good-natured, and respect- 
ful to their' officers — easily managed, 'and, as far as they hare been tried, fight 
as W'ell as any troops.’ ” • . - ’ '' , * 

t 

And so, whether the testimony come from Yicksburg, Port Hudson, 
or before Charleston, from -.Louisiana, Tennessee, or North Carolina; 
whether from the general who has been taught from bis infancy to de- 
spise the negro, or from him whose faith in humanity was imbibed 
from the Puritans, it is the same. Few of these people comparatively 
have been put under arms in this contest, and they but recently, yet 
have they achieved for themselves a new and certainly a brilliant repu- 
tation. We were told they had been known to fight well under other 


7 


flags, and, that regiments of them had become famous in the wars ef 
the East and also the West Indies; but they were not counted upon to 
sustain ^Hhe flag of our Union/^ Our excessively chivalrous Demo- 
cratic friends were horrified at the bare idea of arming in defense of 
the nation what they* were pleased to term property, and it w^as only 
when drafting approached too closely that they could see any virtue in it. 

It is a favorite theory among persons educated at the Military Acad- 
emy, that all men under similar circumstances of discipline and physi- ‘ 
cal condition are about equally brave ; that if there is any difference, 
it is owing to the bodily and not to the mental structure of the indivi- 
dual. And pleasant it is to find in that school of theories, one theory 
that is so nearl}" sustained by the experiences ‘of this war.* What with 
his physical training and discipline to obedience, the colored man will 
fight, and as bravely, I trust, as his white companion in arms. There 
is one characteristic about these people that eminently fits them for the 
sternest realities of war. They manifest more sympathy toward each 
other than do the white soldiers ; and, as a consequence, instead of 
scattering they become gregarious in time of danger, and maintain the 
strength that is always found in union. They seldom, if ever, abandon 
their comrades in distress. During the many expeditions that our 
soldiers have made within the rebel lines, this peculiarity of the col- 
ored population has been observed. The aged, the infirm, and the 
helpless young have been the objects of their chiefest solicitude while 
escaping from bondage. Often ih^this war has the flight of Virgifs 
hero been illustrated. Many a swarthy ^^Ineas has borne away upon 
his shoulder some old Anchises, while leading his little Ascanius by 
the hand, followed by his faithful wife carrying a little bundle, their 
lares and penates, from the cruel confederacy. . v 

j 

Another reason for strengthening the military arm of the Govern- 
ment by the employment of this agency, is that the slaves join the 
Union forces with alacrity whenever an opportunity offers. This is 
not regarded by them as a political contest, and party feeling never 
intervenes between them and duty. Convinee the freedman of the 
rebellious States that downtrodden humanity needs his assistance, and 
at once he seizes his weapon and goes into the ranks. Instances are 
related where they have resorted to the -most ingenious expedients to 
conceal physical defects in order to get into the army ; and they have 
wept with disappointment over the adverse^ decision of an examining 
physician, so anxious have they been for immolation upon the holy 
altar of liberty. Here is patriotism; here an appreciation of that old 
Roman adage, Didce et decorum est pro patria mori. 

But the freedmen of the South are better fitted by nature and habit 
than the northern people to endure the climate of the insurgent States, 
and the toils incident to the life of a soldier therein. This is attested 
in many ways, but in none more forcibly and sadly than by the heca- 
tombs filled with noble young men who perished in the swamps of the 
Chickahoininy, victims not more of the climate, than of the sickly sen- 
timentality of that miserable specimen of a general whose chief solid- 


8 


tude, while leading a patriot army, was to guard rebel property and 
return fugitive slaves. ii 

> Colored soldiers will meet with the sympathy and hearty eo-opera* 
tion'of the entire colored population of the South ; and if it is demon- 
strated by a solemn act of Congress that their hitherto downtrodden 
race is to be lifted up and be made the recipients of national kindness, 
the white soldiers that are assisting to bear aloft the American flag 
'will be equally welcome among them. This will give to the Union 
forces an advantage that has probably hot been so fully enjoyed by an 
army in an enemy's countrv since the world began. It is an advan- 
tage that cannot be over-estimated. Why, the idea of an invasion by 
these people is terribly discomfiting to the usurpers, and hence their 
desperate exertions to deter us from obtaining their aid, by indiscrim- 
inately murdering all negroes found under arms, or in the uniform of 
the United States, as also the officers that lead them.* Their most 
barbarous treatment of our poor friends in the Richmond prisons is 
instigated by their fears upon this, point. They dare not recognize 
their former slaves as soldiers to be treated according to the rules and 
laws of war. The weapon in the hand of the slave is truly the Ithuriel 
spear; the rebellion writhes under its touch*. An army ,of colored 
men becomes an army of liberators in every sense ; and if you would 
put a speedy termination to this war, this awful war^ arm so many of 
these people as will bear arms, and take good care of the balance. 
Ay, sir, put one of John Brown's pikes in the bands of every traitor’s 
slave, and let him earn his liberty. Men that would not be content 
with all the choicest blessings of the Republic are unfit to live in it. 
Let them perish. Mercy to them is cruelty toward God and humanity. 
Whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad, and though these 
people are beside themselves, yet are they sensitive to danger. They 
fear the men they have scourged in the pride of their power. The 
maned lion is not more dreaded by the lonely traveler in Africa, than 
is he whose fathers destroyed the lion by the trembling despots at 
Richmond. , / . 

The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman from ! California suspend a 
moment, in order that the House may receive a message from the Sen- 
ate ? The Secretary of the Senate announced the message. 

Mr. COLE continued : I was about to say, Mr. Speaker, that every 
slave added to the Union Army is, in effect, also taking a soldier 
from the ranks of the rebels. The efficiency of an army depends upon 
how it is fed, clothed, and furnished, Without supplies it will fall to 
pieces in three days; and the man at Koine laboring for its support is 
as indispensable to its strength as the one that carries the musket. The 
plow is equally useful to the belligerent with the gun, and the sickle 


• “ Should they (the negroes) be sent to the field and be put in battle, none will be taken pris- 
oners — our troops understand what to do in such cases. If any negroes have been captured 
during the war as soldiers in the enemy’s ranks, we have not heard of them. , We do not think 
that such a caso has been reported .” — Richmond Examiner,^ 


9 


with the saber. The ex-Secretary of War and his cohorts are so hotly 
pressed to maintain their ascendancy that they have ordered into their 
service, as we are told, all able-bodied white men within their lines be- 
tween the ages of eighteen and sixty; and the rebellion will therefore 
soon be utterly dependent upon slave labor for its support. By so 
much, then, as you withdraw this support, by so much do you weaken 
the rebellion. And this, it seems to me, presents one of the most pow- 
erful inducements for the Government to use all available means to 
enlist colored persons in its service, and to withdraw their support from 
the rebellion. 

i 

But there is still another argument. Those ingrates who hold nightly 
carnival at Bichrnond over the wasted victims of famine, and whose 
requital for support long rendered is torture and death — these fiends 
in human shape have already- entailed upon this Government, which 
they cannot destroy, an enormous public debt;’ and it is a matter of the 
first importance to prevent as far as possible its augmentation ; and 
among the liveliest considerations for Engaging the colored man in the 
Army is, that it is great economy to do so. * ' v 

The African's powers of endurance, whether marching under a 
southern sun or laboring in intrenchments, surpasses that of the white 
man, and as a consequence his sanitary condition is better. So far as I 
have been able to gather facts, it excels that of the white soldiers in 
the proportionate of five to one. ' 

It has been stated — I do not vouch for the fact, for I have not the 
data before me — that since this war began as many of the Union sol- 
diers have perished from disease and hardship as in battle; If this be 
true, or nearly true, it furnishes another strong argument to the point 
under consideration. . - 

Besides the hardiness and prudence of the colored soldier, he 'pos- 
sesses a most commendable aptness for subsisting himself in an enemy’s 
country. The training he has received, in many instances from nig- 
gardly masters, eminently fits him for this important duty. ^ 

But there is another point of view from which it will appear to be 
great economy to employ slaves as soldiers. A sufficient and satisfac- 
tory bounty for them, if we offer them no more, is their freedom and 
that of their race. They demand no further subsidy than the privi- 
lege of vindicating their rights, their “ unalienable rights,” of life, 
liberty, and labor. And shall we not accord them this poor privilege ^ 
Bather, shall we not avail ourselves of an opportunity to save millions 
upon millions which otherwise would need to be paid as bounties in 
order to keep filled our serried ranks? The aid of the bondman to 
humble or destroy his, and our would-be, oppressor can be obtained 
without the expensive routine of the enrollment' and draft; and it 
shames me that he whose participation in the blessings of thellepublic 
has been so limited should be among the foremost in its defense. 

Another fact must not be overlooked. Desertions rarely occur among 
the colored troops. 


10 


From the irenenil framework of our military laws, one is forced to 
the conclusion that it has been the purpose of the country^ to till up 
and keep upithe armies from other sources, and quite independently 
of the slaves. u' 

The eurolinicnt act as it now stands reads, “ all able-bodied male 
citizens of the United States shall be: liable to do military duty 5 and 
this in the face of the fact that colored people are not counted citizens, 
certainly not in the States where slavery is now or was’ lately practiced. 
So that this class of people have been Virtually excluded from military 
duty under the law. And in the amended bill that passed this House 
on Saturday last you have incorporated a piovision making them apart 
of the national forces; but you declare ‘that the usual bounty payable 
to the drafted man shall not be paid to the colored soldier when drafted, 
nor to his family, but to a third party, even to the man to whom that 
same soldier has, upon compulsion, rendered the service of a lifetime. 
What justice, what logic in such a law? It is the old justice of the 
slavemonger still. It is the logic of theHyrant; and shall we never rise 
above them ? Must our Kepublic be further scourged with bloody 
thon<2:s before we can do right ? . 

There is little room for disagreement among loyal men upon the prop- 
osition that our army ought to be increased ; and is'' this policy of 
discouraging enlistments with a whole class to be continued, even by 
implication? Such certainly will be the just inference if we now fait 
to adopt the provisions of this act for a Freedmen’s Bureau. »Do gen- 
tlemen suppose that we have already enough colored troops in our 
army, and that we need no more of them? Or has 'the cruelty of the 
rebels toward these men deterred the Congress from tendering an equal 
provisiorij to avail ourselves of their further assistance? Would the 
traitors, think you, forbear to make use of such an agency if they had it 
within their reach?- While they dare'not put arms in the hands of 
slaves, they are nevertheless conscripting them to labor on fortifica- 
tions. In the Globe of but the other day was a statement that Extra 
Billy Smith, now Governor of old 'Virginia, lately of California, (and 
an exceedingly anxious candidate for United States Senator from 
there,) had ordered a draft for five thousand slaves in certain counties, 
to work on fortifications. Neither. General Smith no? any other trai- 
tor ‘has any scruples about this matter. ' ^ a 

As to the 
ous to deny it 

a hundred thousand of them in the school of the soldier or under 
arms.. Nearly all of these are from within the rebel lines, and there 
are full half a million more of them there, precisely in the predica- 
ment of so many prisoners, scattered over half a million square miles, 
surrounded by an imaginary wall thousands of miles in extent. Only 
encourage their coming forth, and the entire rebel army, though it had 
no other duty, would present but a feeble barrier to their escape. 

I will read an extract in point from a letter from the Colonel of the- 




o 


feasibility of obtaining colored recruits, it is preposter- 
, We have already, according to reports, some fifty to 


11 


Second United States Colored Cavalry, dated Fort Mouroe, January 
15, 1864, It will throw a flood of light upon this subject. 

i 

“ Tlie progress of these two cavalry regiments is really wonderful. I com- 
menced ji’ecruiting the second two weeks ago last' Friday, and last Saturday — 
Iffteeii days— I had the second regiment full, and camps built, and men in 
camp drilling. They have comfortable stockaded tents, and fine clean quar- 
ters ; cost to Government, two kegs nails and two thousand feet roofing to 
cover commissary and cook-houses. They cut all the poles and built the 
stockades and cook-houses, and the brick cook-ranges from old bricks. No 
better canip exists, or better kept, and these men drill creditably already, and 
not one has needed a reprimand yet, nor is there want of discipline. Uncle 
Sam never had as cheap a regiment raised before, and I think few better ones 
than this will prove itself to be in time. 1 am confident and hopeful, for I 
know this colored cavalry will be a success. When stripped for medical ex- 
amination, nearl}’- all are found to have awful whip scars, and when I asked 
one oldish chap, with a horrible back, if he meant to settle for it, he an- 
swered, ‘I’ve been at that two years,’ and on looking closely, I found he was 
our guide ori the Kinston and Goldsboro’ march, and piloted me to that bat- 
tery my company took by assault, where I earned my leaf. Another burly 
chap kept looking at me, and to my astonishment I recognized a once skeleton 
that was attracted by my firing to the edge of a swamp, and suspiciously gave 
himself up. After being fed he returned and brought out four more wretches, 
all that were left of some sixteen that had been escaping for four months, the 
balance having been killed by dog and gun. We had the gratification of break- 
ing up the pack of dogs that had been used. The leading trailer was sent to 
Syracuse as a curiosity. She was Cuba all over. We wanted to wring the 
owner’s neck, but he was a non-combatant. I find in these regiments lots of; 
contrabands 1 have picked up in raids, and it attaches. them to me, to know 
I was their usher into liberty. I exspect trouble to restrain these men when 
active duty comes; there is bitter and vindictive feeling in nearly all. The 
slaves are quite willing to pass through a Red Sea of traitors’ blood to make 
their exodus from bondage into the Canaan of liberty.” 

It is gratifying to know that some of our officers have a keen appre- 
ciation of the advantages to flow from this arm of the service; and 
among them, as worthy of mention, is that live man who fully under- 
stands the rebel character, and comprehends the emergency, Major 
General Butler. How far'tliey are to be supported and encouraged by 
the Government rests with this Congress, and that is the question. 

There is too much of the chivalrous spirit of McClellan and Porter 
and Patterson, in the army yet ; too much of West Point punctilio, 
and too little of earnest determination to conquer. Unless this nation 
awakes to the emergency, and takes hold of the instrumentalities that 
Godin his wisdom has provided, this usurpation will not be put down. 

The people have not yet fully made up their minds that slavery, the 
Jonah of our ship, must go overboard. Gentlemen on the other side 
of the House seem exceedingly anxious to, save some remnants of it; 
and if for, that end they will discourage the enlistment of white men, 
much more may they be expected to oppose the etdistment of negroes, 
which at once strikes at the root of slavery, and saps the foundation 
of their party. It will require greater audacity than most of the gen- 


12 


tleraen on that side of the House possess, to return to slavery a man 
after he has fought for his country. 

^ In my judgment, this war is not nearly over. It possesses a most 
dangerotis element of desperation ; and unless you are willing to 
totally discard the policy that at first and for a long time controlled it, 
arming the slaves, you will not soon see the end. Already a thou- 
sand days and nights have the people waited and watched, but peace 
has not come. Hope has frequently brought it to our doors, but like a 
phantom has it fled again. Self-delusion may be a pleasant, but it is 
a most unprofitable business. Armies will move in the spring;' other 
battles will be fought, and fields now unnamed will become noted in 
the history of this war. Its greatest hero is perhaps still unknown to 
fame. You may depend upon it, peace has been already postponed by 
our acting upon the belief that it is near. We have turned aside to 
discuss the rights of traitors, to the forgetfulness of the more impor- 
tant rights of humanity. The so-called* rights of rebellious States 
‘have received a great deal of attention at our hands already, and all to 
no purpose, unless you first put an end to the rule of the slaveholders 
there. 

' This that we are dealing with is in no proper sense a rebellion as 
understood in this day. It is a most impudent usurpation of power 
by a li ttle junta of men who- had been too long trusted by the people* 
From the very commencement they have maintained themselves by 
military rule, and in no other manner. They have entirely discarded 
the plainl}’' expressed will of the nation, and boldly undertaken to sub- 
vert free government. The wonder is — if there be anything wonder- 
ful under the sun — that they should have had the unbridled audacity 
to undertake this thing while professing to be Democrats, and to respect 
republican institutions. But to the philosopher this may not seem 
strange. 

The contest between truth and error is not less active now than 
at any former period of the world’s history. It is said, truth crushed 
to earth will rise again; and the same should be said of error, for it is 
constantly putting on new habiliments, the better to appeal to the pas- 
sions of men. In fact, nothing has yet appeared upon earth, however 
good, wise, just, or beneficent, but it has met with opposition. Perse- 
cutions did not begin in the case of John Brown of Ossawatoniie. 
Even He in whom both Jew and Gentile now concede there was no 
guile, was pursued, persecuted, and crucified in his own country. 
Galileo was forced to disavow his sublime theory of the planetary, mo- 
tions. Socrates the Just was made to drink the fatal hemlock. Re- 
ligion, science, literature, law, government, have advanced through 
strifes, contentions, blood. As a general rule, the greater the virtue 
the more violent the assaults upon it. And our glorious Republic 
constitutes no exception : its destruction is sought, and no cause what- 
ever is alleged by its assailants for their wicked course. 

Apologists for crime have always been found ; and this great crime, 
this crime against the whole human race, this crime, scarcely second 
in magnitude to the crucifixion, does not lack its apologists. They are 


13 


found everywhere, even in this Capitol. But no traitor, no abettor of 
treason, has had the temerity to charge any wrong against the Govern- 
ment of the United States. On the contrary, up to the very moment 
of the breaking out of the rebellion, it was proclaimed by men of all 
parties, and everywhere, to be the wisest, the best, most just and be- 
neficent Government that had ever been established in the world. 
And none were so loud in these declarations as were the vt^ry persons 
who for the last three years have been trying to overthrow it; and 
none had enjoyed its blessings to so great a degree. 

Alexander H. Stephens, lately a member upon this floor, arid now 
the usurping vice-president, addressed a convention in his own Slate 
of Georgia, after the rebellion was inaugurated, and made use of the 
following lana’uage : 

o o o 

I ^ 

“ Pause, I entreat you, and consider for a moment what reasons you can 
give that will even satisfy yourselves in calmer moments; what reasons you 
can give your fellow-sutterers in the calamity that it will bring upon us. 
What reasons can you give to the nations of the earth to justif}’’ it? They 
will be the calm and deliberate judges in the case; and to what cause or one 
overt act can you name or point on which to rest the plea of justification? 
What right has the North assailed? What interest of the South has been 
invaded? What justice has been denied? And what claim founded in justice 
and right has been withheld ? Can either of you to-day name oue governmental 
act of wrong, deliberately and purposely done by the Government of Wash- 
ington, of which the South has a right to complain ? I challenge the answer.'* 
“ Leaving out of view, for the present, the countless millions of 
dollars you must expend in a war with the North ; with tens of thousands of 
your sons and brothers slain in battle, and offered up as sacrifices upon the 
altar of your ambition — and for what, We ask again? Is it for the overthrow 
of the American Government, established by our common ancestry, cemented 
and built up by their sweat and blood, and founded on the broad principles 
of right, justice, and humanity? And, as such, I must declare here, as I have 
often done before, and which has been repeated by the greatest and wisest 
statesmen and patriots in this and other lauds, that it is the best and freest 
Government ; the most equal in its rights ; the most just in its decisions; the 
most lenient in its measures ; and the most inspiring in its principles to 'ele- 
vate the race of men that the sun of heaven ever shone upon." 

No pamllel for this rebellion can be found in history. The conspir- 
acy of Cataline approximates it most closely; but the Government 
against which he plotted possessed few of the excellencies of our own. 
In one particular have our American traitors faithfully copied after 
their Boman exemplar. They sought to destroy the Bepublic while 
jet intrusted with its affairs; and as with Cataline, so with our mod- 
ern conspirators, ingratitude is conspicuous among their crimes. 

While history furnishes no parallel to the rebellion of Jeti*. Davis 
and his coadjutors, we are not without a picture of their perfidy, for 
which we are indebted to the genius of that great English republican 
and poet, Milton. He has shown us how Satan and his followers — a 
motley crew — rebelled against the authority of Heaven, and for pre- 
cisely the reason that they were not permitted to control there. They 
preferred to rule in hell rather than serve in heaven. And so with 


14 


our late ex-Presldent, our ex-Vice President/ ex-heads of Departments, 
Senators, members of Congress, ministers to foreign courts, embassa- 
dors, consuls, and dignitaries in large number, who hover about the 
slave-pens of Richmond, and make their headquarters there. Fcrget- 
ting entirely the sourfe whence was derived all the authority they ever 
had, they discard the verdict of their masters, the people, and set up 
for themselves an empire founded upon slavery; even upon slavery 
possessed of all the most repulsive and forbidding features of that 
heathenish practice ; a slavery that ever drips with human blood, and 
fills the whole air with the groans of its victims. 

Such is the acknowledged corner-stone of that empire ; and are there 
any that would forbear to relieve these victims fronV'such masters? 
Ou:s is the home of the oppressed of all lands, and shall it atibrd no 
relief to the oppressed of our own ? A shame that we have so iong 
belied our professions ! A shame and a disgrace that C^c great Amer- 
ican Republic should sufier its free Constitution to be made the bul- 
wark of tyranny! We have tolerated this fallacy of one man owning 
another too long. It is utterly indefensible on any ground, and will 
bring trouble upon any people that adopt it. There is a. principle of 
compensation running through all nature that will not permit the vio- 
lation of a law with impunity. The reverse tide ma^^ be slow, but it is 
sure to come. I doubt not the next generation of people in Kentucky 
will wonder that their* distinguished Representative on this floor, [Mr. 
Clay,] in the third year of this slaveholders’ rebellion, should talk so 
confidently about property in man* Why, it is self-evident that liberty 
is an inalienable right, no matter what custom may happen to prevail 
in the Barbary States, or in the Border States, or in any other States. 

Gentlemen are constantly reverting to some old condition of things 
and claiming that we should shape our conduct by what some othefs 
have said or done here or elsewhere under other circumstances. As 
for me, .sir, I have no more regard for precedents in these times than 
had our colonial ancestors when they declared the great truth that all 
men are created equal.” They had the courage thus to strike down 
the ancient theoretical distinctions of blood. All the, notions of all 
*^the nations in all the centuries touching royalty and nobility were 
swept from the New World on the 4th of July, 177G, and the Old 
•World is learning the lesson slowly. Precedent is only respectable 
when it accords with right reason. No matter how many examples 
may be cited to sustain slavery, men are now looking at it in the light 
of reason. Its pangs are not at all alleviated because of the multi- 
tudes that have suffered them. 

# 

Slavery, thou art a bitter draught. 

And though thousandf) in nil ages I j C 

Ilaye been made to drink of thee, | 

Thou art no loss bitter on that account.*' • 

In the United Statcs'of America slavery has forfeited every seni- 

/ 


\ 


15 


V 


blauce of rifjjht to recognition ; and I regret that our worthy President 
has seen fit since this war began to give it any countenance in his 
public acts. The proclamation would have been still more palatable 
had it contained only the words, Slavery has undertaken to destroy 
the Republic, therefore slavery shall be destroyed. Done : Abraham 
Lincoln.^' 

Mr. Speaker, if you would put an end to this cruel war be sure in 
good faith to take good care of these oppressed people. Arm the men. 
Put sharp weapons in every brawny hand among them; and then soon 
will the ex-Secretary of War cry out to his followers, in the language 
of his great prototype : 

“ Long is the way 

And hard, that out of hell leade up to light,’’ 


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